The motor is the heart of the production line – its
continuous hum, the vital heartbeat of your plant floor. It’s what gets the
line started but also keeps it going. When it stops, everything else follows
suit. So how do you keep your motor healthy? There are so many cause and effect
scenarios that can hinder the health of your motor. These small changes add
strain or create heat and cause a domino effect on your line. Here’s our list
of the supporting players that affect the overall health of your motor and what
signs you should look for to increase uptime.

Belts

Improper tension– Not enough tension can cause slippage of the belt increasing heat and premature wear of the belt and sheaves. Too much tension adds excess stress on the belts, bearings and shaft. Both have a direct impact on not only your belts, but also your bearings. Periodically re-tensioning your belts can prevent premature wear and failure.

Misalignment– Angular and parallel misalignment cause belt and sheave wear and reduce the performance and lifespan of the belt. Depending on the degree of misalignment, stability problems can arise as well as unequal load sharing. To learn about the causes of misalignment and tools to diagnose and correct issues watch this video by our partner Gates Power Transmission.

Cleanliness– Making sure your belts stay clean will increase performance. Chemical or lubricant exposure can lead to belt cracking or a loss in tension.

Couplings

Incorrect Selection – Each application is different and therefore there is no one size fits all when it comes to which couplings to use. It’s important to consider all the factors of torque, stiffness, size, inertia and alignment to prevent premature failure. If your couplings consistently fail, it’s time to re-evaluate if you’re using the correct coupling for your application.

Misalignment – While flexible couplings allow for some misalignment, they have their limits. If misalignment exceeds what the coupling can handle, it will wear at an accelerated rate. Not only does this affect the lifespan of the coupling, but it can also put strain on other parts of the system such as the bearings.

Lubrication

Under greasing – Lubrication plays a vital role in minimizing friction in the moving parts of your system. More than 35% of bearing failures can be attributed to improper lubrication. Not enough lubrication on your machine or bearing usually results in an audible change– the grinding of components against one another that causes wear and increases friction. Damage has usually already occurred by the time your workers can hear it on the plant floor.

Over greasing – Over-correcting by adding too much grease is not the answer. With an abundance of grease, the bearing will begin to churn the grease and push it out of the way, losing energy and causing oxidation. The oxidized grease hardens and can prevent new grease from making its way to the rolling elements. Ironically, this eventually leads to failure from under lubrication. Determining the sweet spot of proper lubrication will add to the life of your system.

Contamination – A visual change in lubricant color or opacity can be an indicator of condensation build-up or the presence of metals. Depending on the metal, it could be a sign of corrosion or wear somewhere along the process such as pitting in your bearings or gearboxes. Catching this through visual inspections of your oil or lubricant can catch a larger issue before a failure occurs.

Bearings

Don’t forget to check your bearings!– Almost everything we’ve discussed so far impacts the life of your bearings. If you notice your belt has lost tension, your couplings are misaligned, your lubrication is discolored, or any of the issues outlined above make sure to also check your bearings. Chances are they’ve been affected too.

When it comes to power transmission, it’s important to have a holistic approach to your maintenance program. Each component relies on another to perform efficiently. Maintenance of bearings, belts, lubrication and couplings are way more cost effective than replacing a failed motor. In addition to these inspections, there are many tools available to assist with your maintenance program. Technology has come a long way to help predict and prevent potential faults with vibration analysis and condition monitoring. Consider using these tools to establish a base line of how your system runs. This is the best place to start to better predict future maintenance time lines or when a potential failure may occur.

Need help with your plant’s power transmission? Rumsey has a staff of specialists that can improve safety, reduce maintenance costs, and keep your plant running productively and profitably. Contact us today!

Jeff Llewellyn is an automation control specialist at Rumsey focused in the areas of AC Motors, PT components, and the design, assembly and install of extruded aluminum products. He joined Rumsey in 2015 after the acquisition of TECO and has over thirteen years of experience in the Power Transmission industry. Besides having a natural curiosity for how things work, Jeff is often referred to as a jack of all trades.